Nightmares
by CheezPretzel
Summary: Kai has nightmares. It's something he's never told anyone... until now. KAILOR. (Rated T just to be safe)


**A/N: This is Kailor (Don't like don't read). It takes place sometime after March Of The Oni, but most likely before Season Eleven. Kai and Skylor are in a pre-established relationship. (It's canon now, after Hunted.) This was also the result of a few days of stress writing, so consequently, do not expect Shakespeare. Also, this is my first Ninjago fanfiction on this site.**

**I do not own Ninjago. This is just for fun!**

Nightmares:

The nightmares had gotten worse.

He hadn't told anyone about them because he didn't want them to worry. His friends and sister were busy with Ninja duties, Wu had been inconveniently absent for the past couple of months and was still adjusting to having an old man's body, and his parents had moved back into _Four Weapons_, which was good for them, but it also meant that Kai and Nya often went weeks without seeing their parents.

Then there were the other elemental masters. Kai didn't trust many of them, not to mention that some of them, like Chamille and Bolobo, hadn't been heard from in three years and for all anyone knew, could probably be dead. There was Skylor, but part of Kai worried that if he told her, she'd somehow get dragged into another crazy adventure.

Speaking of crazy adventures, the Ninja had just finished another crime chase across Ninjago City, and luckily this time nothing had gotten destroyed (mostly), blown up (that rarely happened anyway), nor had anyone been killed (that was fortunate). Also fortunate was the fact that Skylor had invited the Ninja to crash at her apartment instead of having to somehow drive back to the Monastery at two in the morning.

This is how Kai ended up asleep in a guest bedroom, Cole in the twin bed nearby, and the rest of the Ninja out cold in the living room. If Kai had a choice, he would have rather been sharing a room with his sister then with Cole, but, considering the rest of the Ninja had fallen asleep the second they had stumbled into the apartment, there wasn't exactly a choice to be made. Kai rolled over to face the white-blue lights from the window and finally drifted off.

* * *

Blood.

There was so much blood.

It was everywhere. It soaked into the sewers, mixed with the street water, stained the sidewalk, and splattered against the buildings. Bright splashes of red (his color!) bleed across the city. It was not right. Red was supposed to mean courage. It was supposed to stand for bravery and loyalty, not pain and death and betrayal.

Kai stared up at the dark mass ahead of him, some sort of Oni-Overlord hybrid. Although it would have been comical in any other circumstances, Kai was scared out of his mind.

"What's it going to be?" The demon asked in its gravelly voice. "You must choose!"

"I can't!" Kai cried out. The dream was going the same way it always did; the demon would ask him to choose and he would refuse.

The demon laughed. "Choose. Either your real family or your friends."

"I can't!" Kai screamed. "I love them all!"

The demon's lips pulled back in an ugly snarl. "If you do not choose, I will kill them all."

"NO!" the red ninja shouted. "DON'T! PLEASE!"

"Too late," The demon answered with a snarling laugh.

"No…" Kai's voice came out a choked whisper as he sank to the ground unwilling to look up and see the horror that had become reality. The Demon just laughed and sunk its claws into his messy brunette hair and jerked his head up.

Tears of pain and anguish sprang to his eyes when he saw the image that lay ahead of him. Though he had seen the same picture every night since he was five, it still felt like a jab to the heart every time he saw it.

The demon shoved him forward, and he stumbled towards the carnage of his friend's bodies. Cole was the closest to him, lying face down in the street, covered in roadburn and bruises, and laying still, unmoving, unbreathing. Next was Zane, broken into several pieces and scattered across the sidewalk. Nya was collapsed in the gutter with Jay stretched across her, almost as if the blue ninja was trying to protect his girlfriend.

_Like I can't_. A lump was forming in Kai's throat. _No. I won't cry. I can't cry._

Lloyd was lying a few feet from Jay and Nya, and Kai ran over to him, shaking his honorary brother gently. Lloyd's jade eyes were open, but there was no life to them. They stared off into nothing, his face slack. Kai let go of him when he realized his friend wasn't going to get up. Horrified, he turned away from Lloyd's body.

He moved through the rest of the carnage quietly, horrified, the same way he did every night. The police commissioner lay half-crushed by a civilian car, Ronin's skin looked as if it had been burned by acid, Dareth was bleeding from six different places, even Echo Zane had been dragged into Kai's nightmare, dismantled and dismembered across an intersection.

Kai spotted a badly beaten Master Wu lying at the base of a lamppost, next to Garmadon, who was covered in hundreds of bleeding scratches.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and continued walking, eventually finding his parents, lying in the street in a similar matter to Jay and Nya, Ray's strong body stretched over Maya's. Tears sprung to Kai's eyes and he had to turn away from his parents to avoid bursting into sobs. He took a step forward and looked down, finally breaking into sobs at what he saw.

Skylor lay in the street, her pretty orange-gold eyes staring into nothing. Kai dropped to his knees and put his hands on his girlfriend's shoulders. He pulled her into his arms and his sobs intensified.

"I'm sorry," He sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

He couldn't save them. Not Lloyd, not Skylor, not his parents or masters or friends or sister. They were all dead because he couldn't choose between them.

The demon approached him and yanked Skylor's body from his grasp.

Kai looked up, tears streaming down his face. "Stop…"

The demon took Kai's chin in its ugly fingers and tilted it so Kai was forced to stare into the demon's red eyes. "You're weak."

It let go of him and laughed. Laughed at his weakness, laughed at his suffering, laughed at how inadequate he was, how he couldn't protect his friends, how the city was suffering because of him, how he was a failure….

* * *

Kai jolted awake with a gasp, drenched in a cold sweat. For a moment, he couldn't remember where he was, but a glance around the dark room reminded him. He was at Skylor's apartment. He glanced at the bright red numbers on the bedside clock. 3:24.

Looking over at Cole's sleeping form, he relaxed slightly. If his dream had become reality, at least he wouldn't be _completely_ alone. He would still have one friend.

He sighed and climbed out of bed, slipping quietly past Cole, who was about an eighth of an inch away from falling off of his bed.

Kai crept out into the dark hallway, his way lit by artificial blue-neon lights of Ninjago City that were shining brightly outside, lighting vibrant blue blocks of light on the floor. He finally made it into the living room and relaxed slightly.

None of his friends had been hurt. They were all okay. His dream hadn't become reality as he had feared. He glanced around the room, double-checking to make sure he hadn't forgotten anyone.

Lloyd had fallen off the chair he was originally sleeping on, so now only his feet were visible, laying across the cushion. Jay was stretched out on the couch cushions, his head on a throw pillow. Nya had somehow fallen asleep on top of the back of the couch Jay was asleep on, and looked a little like she was about to fall off onto her boyfriend. This always happened with late-night missions. Everyone got so tired they all would act like they were drunk. It had lead to some hilarious (and dangerous) situations before, but never one quite like this.

Most of the team had fallen asleep as soon as they all stumbled in the door, but since Kai and Cole were the only ones not already asleep after five minutes, Skylor had allowed them to use the guest bedroom.

Kai's sharp eyes scanned the room again. Years of Ninja training was telling him he was forgetting someone. Cole! No- wait. Cole was asleep in the guest bedroom. Kai glanced around the room a fourth time. He could swear he was missing someone.

_Okay,_ He thought to himself. _Cole is in the guest room, Lloyd is asleep on that chair. Nya is about to fall onto Jay… Zane is-_ His heart stopped. _ZANE!_

Zane was missing!

Kai swallowed, even though his throat was as dry as the Sea of Sand. Zane was missing. His titanium robot friend was gone. He knew it would happen eventually, one day he would just wake up and one of his friends would be gone. Kai just hadn't expected it to be so soon. He swallowed a sob. Zane was gone.

Walking around the couch and trying not to step on any of Lloyd's outstretched fingers, Kai looked down and froze.

Zane.

His nindroid friend had somehow managed to miss the air mattress on the floor and was lying on the ground. Being a Nindroid, Zane didn't need to sleep, but the mechanical Ninja was often mentally exhausted after missions, so he had probably shut himself down to recharge and recuperate.

Kai sighed with relief and slipped past his friends, walking out of the living room and passing the door to the kitchen before finding the landline on the wall next to a bulletin board. Since Master Chen's Noodle House had never been destroyed during the _several_ times Ninjago had been attacked, neither had the apartment Skylor currently lived in, which was four floors above the restaurant. This meant that Skylor's apartment had some old-fashioned features, one of which was the landline.

He picked up the phone and was about to punch in his dad's cell number before he stopped. No, that wouldn't be polite. No matter how worried he was, he shouldn't call his parents in the middle of the night. That wouldn't be very nice.

He sighed and put the receiver back on the hook. He glanced at Skylor's bulletin board. He recognized his phone number written on a beat-up pink sticky note, and the phone numbers for the rest of the Ninja, as well as Master Wu, written on what looked like the back of a shopping list and tacked next to his phone number. Next to it was a piece of paper with 'Call Annie?' written on it. Beneath that, was a polaroid selfie they had taken a few weeks ago. Kai's hair was sticking up in every direction, and Skylor's tongue was sticking out, but otherwise, they looked great. Actually, scratch that. Kai always looked great.

"Kai?" A voice from down the hall called.

Kai nearly jumped out of his skin and spun around, a hand ignited so he could see who was awake and spying on him. In surprise, he almost burned his fingers. "Skylor!?"

"Shh!" She shushed him. "Not so loud! Your friends are all asleep."

"What are you doing up?" Kai asked her.

"I heard someone moving around and came to see who it was," She answered. "Why are _you_ awake?"

"I… um…" He trailed off. Should he tell Skylor about his nightmares? What if that scared her? What if she thought he was weak and no longer wanted him? His heart stopped at the last thought. She wouldn't leave him… Would she? He shuddered.

He met her fierce gold eyes again and looked down, embarrassed.

She walked over to him and laid a hand on his arm. "It's okay, Kai. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Kai sighed and placed his hand over hers. "I… I…. I have nightmares sometimes, okay!" He stammered, suddenly defensive. "And I'm sorry if that scares you because they scare me!" He sighed, his shoulders slumped, and he realized how exhausted he really was. He realized with a jolt that tears were beginning to form in his eyes. "...I…. I just… can't do it anymore…" He trailed off and focused his energy on not bursting into sobs in front of his girlfriend.

Skylor looked up at him wide-eyed. "You have nightmares too?"

"Yeah," He looked down at his feet. "I've never told anyone, though."

She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. "Kai, that's not healthy. You should talk about what's bothering you, not just keep it bottled up."

"Well, I don't know how," Kai snapped. Skylor stumbled back in surprise at his outburst. "I'm the Red Ninja, I'm the Fire Master! I'm supposed to be the loyal one, the brave one, the strong one! I reforged the golden weapons with my element, I became a Ninja to save my sister! I've fought and competed in hundreds of battles, and ..." He trailed off. "...and I still have these dreams anyway. What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you," Skylor reassured him gently, glancing back at his sleeping friends. Lloyd rolled over and muttered something about how he never got to learn about fractions. "Except for the fact that you might wake your friends."

Kai sighed. "Don't you have something better to be doing?"

Skylor's eyes snapped. She grabbed Kai's shoulders and jerked him downwards until their faces were level with one another. "Kai Smith, you are the most important thing to me. Don't forget that." She added as an afterthought.

Kai looked up and smiled bitterly.

"Come on," Skylor placed her hand in his. "We can talk in my room."

Kai sighed softly but allowed Skylor to lead him to her bedroom. As soon as he entered, he almost immediately felt at peace. Her room smelled like her citrusy shampoo, and the way that it was organized seemed neat and clean, yet at the same time almost cozy. Her bedsheets were rumpled, and her desk was covered in papers, yet the room felt clean.

She lead him to her bed, and he sat down next to her, allowing his girlfriend to wrap a comforting arm around his shoulders.

Skylor looked up at him and softly traced the scar over his eye with a gentle finger. "Tell me about your dreams."

"I… I…" He trailed off. Skylor moved to gently massaging his tight shoulders. Kai sighed. "They're all dead. All of them. I couldn't save them. I couldn't save Nya. I couldn't save my parents. I couldn't save Jay or Cole or Zane. I couldn't save Lloyd and… I couldn't save you." He choked, coughed and tried not to cry, but failed as warm tears began to spill from his eyes.

"Shhh," Skylor soothed, moving them into a more comfortable position against the bed. Kai tucked his head under her chin and she ran her fingers through his messy brunette hair. Although he rarely admitted it, Kai enjoyed the sensation. "It's okay. I'm alright, and so are your friends. No one's died, at least, not that I know of."

Kai sighed and subjected himself to be loved. "I know, Sky. I realize that, but in the moment, I couldn't do it. I couldn't protect anyone."

"What do you mean?" Skylor asked, staring at him, confused.

Kai sighed again. "Every night, there's the creature, I don't know what it is, but it's all dark and shadowy, and it threatens me with having to choose which one of my friends will live and which will die."

She slipped her hand into his and he gripped it like a lifeline. "And every night I can't choose. So every night…" He swallowed, trying not to break into sobs again. "...the creature… kills them. Kills everyone. And I can't stop it. Everyone dies and it's all my fault."

"Oh, Kai," Skylor traced circles on his back with her free hand and squeezed his hand with her other. "I'm so sorry. That sounds awful."

Kai closed his eyes and pressed against her. "And I can't help but think that it might come true. The other Ninja have had prophetic dreams before, so could it be happening to me?" He trembled at the thought. "Is everyone going to die?"

Skylor sighed softly and ran a hand down his back. "I don't know, Kai. You and the Ninja appear to lead extremely dangerous lifestyles. I can't promise anything."

He opened his eyes and squeezed her hand, looking for reassurance. "I know. But I wish we didn't." Kai sighed. "It just hurts me to see my friends dead every night." He shifted a bit.

"How long have you been having these nightmares?" Skylor asked him, squeezing his hand back, reassuring him she wasn't going anywhere.

"Long as I can remember," Kai answered with a sigh, bringing one of his hands up to gently stroke her cheek. "The dreams started right after my parents disappeared when I was around five. After Nya was kidnapped, they got worse. I thought things would get better after I met the rest of the Ninja and we rescued Nya, but it's just gotten worse from then on. Everyone I've ever been allied with or cared about or met who's not a villain has appeared at one time or another. I thought if I just ignored them, they would go away. But they didn't, all they did was get worse."

"And you didn't tell anyone?" Skylor asked, sounding concerned. Kai would've looked up, but he was far too comfortable in his current position.

"I was… worried," He admitted. "That they would think I'm not good enough, not to mention that I'm supposed to be the one who protects the rest of the team and keeps them out of trouble."

"I understand now," Skylor reassured him. "You think that you can't tell anyone about your nightmares because otherwise, they'll think less of you." She paused. "And you think that you have to be the strong one of the team and protect everyone," Skylor placed her hand over his. "That's a lot, Kai. I understand feeling like you have to protect everyone, but… when was the last time you let someone else protect _you_?"

Kai froze completely. He thought about it. "To be honest, I can't remember."

Skylor moved her hand from his down to trace down his chiseled jawline. "I'm so sorry, Kai, but that's not fair. You shouldn't have to always be the protector of your friends."

He shifted. "Skylor?"

"Yes?"

"Will you protect me?" He asked before his words came all out in one big jumbled rush. "Just for tonight, I mean, like I um, just…" He trailed off, embarrassed.

"Of course, Kai," Skylor answered, moving her hand up his jaw and into his soft brown hair.

Kai rolled over and shifted so his eyes met hers. "Now, I have a question for you."

She pulled one of her arms behind her head but kept the other in his hand. "I have an answer for you," She answered with a playful smirk. "You go first."

Kai chuckled softly before his expression sobered. "Why were you awake?"

She shrugged. "I… I…" She paused, breaking his gaze. "This is going to sound redundant, but I... had a nightmare."

He squeezed her hand in a reassuring gesture. "You have nightmares too?"

She looked at him with a bitter smile. "Everyone has nightmares, Kai."

"Tell me about it," Kai asked, shifting so he was laying next Skylor on the soft mattress.

"It… it was about my dad," Skylor mumbled. Kai opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "And before you say that it was three years ago or whatever, it still scares me."

Kai shut his mouth and nodded.

"After the whole Anacondrai fiasco, I realized that the way my father treated me wasn't normal or healthy," She sighed. "I just have nightmares about being back in the cult."

"That's right," Kai nodded. "I keep forgetting that it was a cult. Continue."

Skylor met his eyes sadly. "Some of those punishments…" She shuddered. "They were really, really bad. I remember one time he forced me to hang on a pull-up bar over a pit of snakes to test my resilience, and I couldn't do it, so he would allow the other kids to punch and kick me."

"Other kids?" Kai asked, looking horrified. "There were other children on the island?"

"Just two," Skylor answered with a sigh. "Kapau and Chope were born on the island. There were other young people there, but Chen's cult mainly targeted young adults; people fresh out of college, the likes."

Kai ran a hand through Skylor's cherry-colored hair. "Sometimes I can't believe Chen would put you through those things and still dare to call you his daughter."

"I'm over it," Skylor answered, secretly enjoying the feel of Kai's hand against her scalp. "Mostly. It was really bad for the first few weeks. I felt lost. The whole cult was bad, yeah, but for as long as I can remember, my father had some sort of God behind him. Whenever I misbehaved, he would tell me that God was angry at me or whatever, and for the longest time, I believed him. It wasn't until that dumb tournament happened that I realized that was not how I want to live my life."

"The tournament was that bad?" Kai asked her, moving his hand to her cheeks.

"It was the point all my training had been building up to," Skylor answered. "The original plan was to have me face off against every master and defeat them all, then give up my powers willingly."

"Huh," Kai had a curious look on his face. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. But I also suppose Chen wasn't counting on one Fire Master being so darn attractive."

"Stop," Skylor laughed, slapping him playfully. "I get it, you like yourself."

"I am pretty fond of myself," Kai answered with a nod. "But you know who I'm even more fond of?"

"Kai," Skylor started with an eye roll. "I know what you're doing. And yes, that is very smooth. Just shut up and kiss me already."

As it turns out, laughing and kissing are two very difficult activities to perform at the same time, but somehow Kai and Skylor managed it. They always had.

After a long moment, Kai pulled away and looked at his girlfriend.

"What?" Skylor asked, noticing his quizzical expression.

Kai broke her gaze and smiled. "Nothing." He whispered. "I'm just happy that you're a part of my life again."

"I am too, Kai," She answered, as he pulled her against him. She curled against his muscular chest. "I really am."

Due to Kai's exhaustion from the mission and Skylor's insomnia, it didn't take long for the two lovers to fall fast asleep.

And for the first time in years, neither had a single nightmare.

* * *

Cole woke up first. For a moment he couldn't remember where he was before the events of the previous night came rushing back to him. The chase, the fight, crashing at Skylor's apartment at two in the morning. Yeah, it had been a stressful night.

He climbed out of bed and walked down the hallway, oblivious to the fact that everyone else in the apartment was asleep. When he finally reached the living room, he realized his mistake.

Cole's loud clomping down the hallway had not only woken Lloyd, but also Jay. Lloyd was giving Cole a death glare from the floor, and Cole was almost positive that Jay was doing the same thing, however, the Lightning Master currently had a certain Master of Water curled up on his chest, so he couldn't move for fear of waking Nya.

"Really, Cole?" Lloyd grumbled, pulling himself off the floor and sitting down on the chair he was sprawled across.

"Well, sorry," Cole snapped, moving to flop onto another armchair, but accidentally fell over Zane instead and ended up sprawling out over the floor with a crash.

Nya woke up with a jolt. "Who's attacking us this time?" She asked, bleary-eyed.

"No one," Jay growled. "Cole just fell over Zane."

"Mmhm," Nya answered, closing her eyes again. "Wake me up if anything interesting happens."

"Speaking of which," Zane asked, pulling himself off the floor. "What has happened?"

"Cole fell over you," Lloyd answered tiredly, resting his chin on his hand.

Cole growled something that Lloyd assumed was inappropriate, but he didn't hear, so for all he knew it could be something like 'flying monkeys'.

"You think Kai is up?" Jay asked Lloyd.

"I dunno," Lloyd answered with a shrug. "Did you see him, Cole?"

"No," Cole answered, "but I'll go double-check anyway."

He left the room and walked down the hall to the guest bedroom, but to his surprise, Kai was nowhere to be found. _Huh, that's odd._ Cole thought to himself, moving down the hallway. He glanced into a half-open door on the way and saw Kai and Skylor asleep curled around each other. He kept walking, then froze, turned around and glanced back into the room.

Kai's arms were draped around Skylor, and the Amber Master was curled into the Fire Master's chest. Both looked content, happy, and, well, if Cole had to be honest, a little ridiculous. Couldn't they have shut the door?

"Well, where is he?" Lloyd asked from the living room.

"He's curled up next to Skylor," Cole answered with a grin. "Oh, I'm already thinking of all the jokes I can make."

He walked back into the living room, where Nya was giving him an angry stare. "Leave them alone. If he's happy, then that's what matters."

"You never let us have any fun," Jay grumbled.

Nya sighed. "How would you feel if Cole started making fun of _us_?"

Jay rolled his eyes. "He already does that anyway."

Nya sighed again. "Sometimes, I wonder why this whole mess started."

Everyone looked at Lloyd.

"What!?" The Green Ninja asked, annoyed. The entire group soon began to break out into an argument full of friendly banter and laughter.

Meanwhile, in Skylor's room, the couple slept soundly, with no knowledge of the chaos happening in the living room. They were just happy to be together and happy to not be having nightmares. After all, no one likes a bad dream.


End file.
